China and Finland

In 2013, the relationship between the People's Republic of China and the Republic of Finland entered a new stage of development.

The two countries had frequent high-level exchanges. From 30 May to 1 June, CPPCC Chairman Yu Zhengsheng paid an official goodwill visit to Finland, during which he met or had talks with Finnish President Sauli NiinistÖ, Speaker Eero Heinäluoma and Prime Minister Jyrki Katainen. Visits to Finland were also made by Chairperson of the NPC Committee for Internal and Judicial Affairs Ma Wen, Vice Chairperson of the NPC Foreign Affairs Committee Zhao Shaohua, Vice Chairman of the CPPCC Committee of Education, Science, Culture, Health and Sports Cheng Jinpei, Administrator of the China Meteorological Administration Zheng Guoguang, Vice President of the National Council for Social Security Fund Sun Xiaoxi, Vice President of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences Li Jie, President of the China National Radio Wang Qiu, Vice Minister of the State Administration of Press, Publication, Radio, Film and Television Yan Xiaohong and Vice President of the Chinese Academy of Engineering Fan Daiming.

In March, President NiinistÖ and Prime Minister Katainen sent congratulatory letters to President Xi Jinping and Premier Li Keqiang respectively on their election. Finnish Minister of Foreign Affairs Erkki Tuomioja sent a letter of congratulations to Minister Wang Yi on assuming office. From 6 to 10 April, President NiinistÖ paid a state visit to China and attended the Boao Forum for Asia Annual Conference 2013. President Xi had talks with him, during which the two leaders reached the important agreement on jointly building and advancing China- Finland future-oriented cooperative partnership, thus taking the China- Finland relationship to a new stage of development. Premier Li Keqiang, CPPCC Chairman Yu Zhengsheng and Vice President Li Yuanchao met with President NiinistÖ separately. In June, Finnish Speaker Heinäluoma visited China and NPC Chairman Zhang Dejiang and CPPCC Chairman Yu Zhengsheng met with him respectively. In September, Finnish Prime Minister Katainen attended the Annual Meeting of the New Champions in Dalian, and Premier Li Keqiang and Vice Premier Wang Yang met with him respectively. In December, Chairperson of the Committee for the Future of the Finnish Parliament Päivi Lipponen visited China and CPPCC Chairman Yu met with her. Visits to China were also made by Finnish Minister of Finance Jutta Urpilainen, Minister for European Affairs and Foreign Trade Alexander Stubb, Minister of Economic Affairs Jan Vapaavuori, Minister of the Environment Ville NiinistÖ, Minister of Justice Anna- Maja Henriksson, Minister of Housing and Communication Pia Viitanen, Minister of Education and Science Krista Kiuru and Minister of Social Affairs and Health Paula Risikko.

In October, new Finnish Ambassador to China Jari Gustafsson presented his credentials to President Xi Jinping.

Practical cooperation in various fields made progress. In April, the Sino-Finnish International Innovation Platform (FinChi Beijing) was established in the Zhongguancun Software Park of Beijing. In May, the two ministries of justice signed the Cooperation in the Judicial Fields Between the Ministry of Justice of China and the Ministry of Justice of Finland 2013-2016. In June, the Beautiful Beijing Project was launched in Helsinki and the Finnair opened a direct flight from Helsinki to Xi'an. In November, the two countries signed the Memorandum of Understanding on Cooperation in Information and Communications Technology Between the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology of the People's Republic of China and the Ministry of Transport and Communications of the Government of the Republic of Finland. In December, the 20th session of the China-Finland Joint Committee on Trade and Economy and the Joint Venture Seminar on Cleantech between the CPPCC Committee of Population, Resources and Environment and the Committee for the Future of the Finnish Parliament were held in Beijing.

Cultural and people-to-people exchanges were dynamic. In February, the seventh Happy Chinese New Year Celebrations, a signature event of the Chinese Spring Festival, were held in many cities in Finland, involving tens of thousands of people. In June, an exhibition of the Terracotta Army of China's Qin Dynasty was held in Tampere, Finland. In May, the Confucius Classroom at CRI Finland Studio and the first Confucius Classroom on the air in Nordic countries was unveiled in Finland, and the fourth China- Finland Higher Education Forum was held in Finland. In October, the China Day activities were jointly held by the Chinese Embassy and the Finnish-Chinese Friendship Group in the Parliament of Finland.